We Are One
by justanoutlaw
Summary: Scrabble verse. A game of Scrabble changed their lives forever. Now they're happily married with their large family. What happened after happily ever after?
1. Chapter 1

**I just can't let go of this verse, so I will take prompts for future fics. This one focuses on them welcoming the last members to their family.**

Mary Margaret had only had one pregnancy scare in all of her life, long before she had even planned out her family. Ever since Emma, her period had been off, but she knew when to expect it. Things with two kids had been so great that when Neal was only 6 months old, they had tried for baby number three and conceived right away, having Charles James or Charlie as he was almost immediately nicknamed by everyone. People called them crazy and occasionally they felt it with three kids under four. Yet, they wouldn't change a thing. Charlie showed to be relaxed, a lot like Neal when he reached his first birthday. Though, both boys managed to keep up with their rambunctious sister.

Two years later, Mary Margaret got hit by that baby fever once again and it didn't take much arm twisting on David's part. Emma was off at kindergarten, Neal at preschool. Leopold had just passed away, leaving the family an unexpected inheritance. (As it turned out, he had never bothered to change his will after Mary Margaret cut him off.) They put most of it into savings, knowing that they would need to put four kids through college at some point. Yet, they used a part of it to make sure that they'd be okay to have a fourth child.

Finn Cole came 9 months later, right on his due date. They thought Emma had been a handful, but he seemed to have twice his sister's energy and was constantly getting into trouble. Even so, they loved him to bits, just as much as they did their other children. Mary Margaret got the job as vice principal at the combined middle and high school, David's farm was doing quite well. Their older kids were growing by the minute and they felt pretty complete. They decided that four was their magic number.

Then 7 years later, Mary Margaret felt sick and she wasn't sure why. She hadn't eaten anything out of the ordinary and there was no bug going around their household. (A rarity in the winter with 4 kids, on top of Mary Margaret's job where she was constantly exposed to things.) Luckily, it was the weekend, so she could relax a bit without having to worry about her work responsibilities on top of motherhood.

Her late period was the next concern. Ever since Finn, it had gone back to its usual cycle, two months on, two months off. She wondered if it was possible that she was going through early menopause. It wasn't as if she knew her family's medical history all too well, but it wouldn't surprise her. She was all set to make an appointment with the gyno, until her mind flashed to another reason why she could be late.

Date nights were a rarity for her and David, ones out of the house that was. Yet, 2 months prior, Emma and Neal had gone to sleepovers, and Regina offered to take Finn and Charlie for one as well. So, it had just been them. They went to the fancy Italian restaurant in town, ordered really nice wine and when they got back to the house, enjoyed being able to have sex without a kid running in needing something.

She had to take out her implant due to a recall and hadn't yet bothered to get another. She could vaguely remember David questioning about a condom, but she had shrugged it off.

"Crap," she whispered to herself.

A quick trip to the pharmacy and three pregnancy tests later and it was confirmed: Mary Margaret was pregnant for the fifth time…at 42 years old.

She looked into all of the things that could go wrong. There were conditions the baby could have, things that could go wrong with Mary Margaret herself. How could she have been so careless? It was one thing when she was 27 and it was just her…but she had four kids, a husband. A large part of her was so happy at a chance to get to raise another child, but a smaller part was filled with fear.

The first thing she knew she had to do was tell David. She waited until all the kids had gone to bed and sat him down to show him the tests. He looked as if he had been knocked over with a feather, then said the first thing that came to mind.

"And we just sold the last of Finn's baby stuff."

Mary Margaret gave him a weary look. "What?"

"We just gave the last of Finn's baby clothes to Bae and Isabella's baby," he said. "I guess we'll have to buy new stuff now."

"That's seriously where your mind goes?"

"I just like to be prepared."

"David…I'm scared."

"Why? We've done this before."

"Yes, but I was a lot younger than." She swallowed. "What if something goes wrong?"

"Hey." He took her hand. "You can't think like that. You're not old, you're only 42. Plenty of women have a baby at that age. Heck, look at Gold. He was 48 when Gideon was born."

"That's different. He didn't have to carry the baby. Belle was what…28? We knew she and Gideon would be okay."

"It's going to be okay, I promise you."

She slowly nodded, wanting to believe it more than anything. "I don't want to tell the kids, not until we've reached the second trimester. I mean…I'm pretty sure we're close to that anyway."

David chuckled, realizing when the baby had to be conceived. "Our one kid free night lead to baby number five."

"Oh the irony," Mary Margaret said, smiling for the first time since she took the test, kissing him.

As it turned out, the pregnancy was the least of their surprises. A few tests and an ultrasound revealed one more surprise: Mary Margaret was carrying identical twins. They ran on David's side of the family, but given that it had never come up with their other pregnancies, they assumed the gene had skipped them.

The doctor went over the risks of the pregnancy, it was definitely high risk and she'd have to go on bed rest at some point. That didn't help calm Mary Margaret's nerves, but David once again assured her that things would be okay.

Four weeks later, they sat the kids down to share the big news.

"I'm pregnant," she said. "With twins."

Neal raised an eyebrow. "Won't you be like…the oldest mom in the world?"

Mary Margaret rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, no. I am only 42, you know."

Emma tilted her head. "I thought after Finn…you said you didn't want any more."

"Well…sometimes these things happen. We're very excited."

"So…I'm getting two baby brothers?" Finn asked, hopefully.

Mary Margaret chuckled. "We don't know about that, they could be girls."

"Please." Charlie rolled his eyes. "Emma's the only girl in this family."

"So, does this mean we have all your support?" David asked. "Mom's going to be okay, but this pregnancy means she'll have to rest a bit. That means I'm going to need you guys to help out more around the house. We need to really pitch in so things stay the same."

"We definitely can," Neal promised. "Whatever we can to help Mom."

Mary Margaret grinned and looked at all of her kids. Finn and Charlie seemed on board, but when she reached her eldest child, she saw a different look on Emma's face. It wasn't anger or disdain, but…she didn't seem happy.

"Emma," she whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. I'll help however you need. Can I go now?"

"Sure."

Emma avoided her mother for 2 weeks. She did her part around the house and even went out of her way to walk Finn home. Every time Mary Margaret tried to sit down with her, she was busy with something else. David saw the stress it was putting on both of them and knew something had to change. Emma was close to both her parents, but normally it was him to get things out of her.

One night after mostly everyone else had gone to bed, he found Emma up in her room, reading. He lightly knocked on the open door and smiled a bit.

"Hey kiddo, want to take a walk?"

Emma glanced at her clock. "It's 10."

"Ice cream then? I just got a new pint of rocky road," he bartered, knowing her favorite.

She looked hesitant, but couldn't resist her sweet tooth. Putting the book down, she followed him downstairs and they settled down in the kitchen. David got himself some chocolate, while scooping out some rocky road for Emma. She dug in, ignoring his worried glance.

"You wanna tell me what's bothering you?"

"Nothing."

"Emma, I know you. Is it the babies? I won't lie, Mom and I are going to be busy when they get here, but nothing will change how much we love you."

"This isn't my first baby brother," she said with an eye roll. "I know how it works."

"Could be baby sisters," he reminded her. "If that's not it, then what?"

"It's just…Mom's going on bed rest soon and I…I did some research." She chewed on her lip. "Her pregnancy is high risk. What if something happens to her?"

"Oh, kiddo." He moved closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Nothing's going to happen."

"You have to say that."

"No, I don't." He sighed. "The truth is, I'm scared too."

"You are?"

"Yeah, I've been scared each time your mom has been pregnant."

"You don't get scared."

He chuckled. "I do, especially when it comes to the people I love. However, I do know your mom. She's a fighter, she's going to do all she can to make sure that she won't leave us."

"But what if she does?"

David stared down into her eyes and realized how much of a kid Emma still was. She was nearly 14 and tried to pretend like she was big and bad, not needing anyone's help. Yet, the truth was, she was still a little kid. One who needed her parents, both of them, no matter what.

"If anything, God forbid, happened to your mom, we'd be okay," he whispered. The thought scared the hell out of him, but he knew he had to talk about it for Emma's sake.

"I can't lose her, Daddy," Emma whispered. "I love her so much. I know I don't act like it sometimes…"

"She knows, we both do."

"There's just still so much I need her for."

"Which is why she's not going anywhere."

"She could. Your mom did."

That comment felt like a sword to David's heart. "Oh, Emma. It's not like my mom. I know you're scared and maybe there's not much I can say to ease that right now, but I do know that pushing Mommy away won't help."

Emma sighed, picking at her ice cream. "I just thought it'd make things easier."

"But has it?"

"…No."

"Just be there for her, kiddo. You can tell her you're scared, she can handle it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

The next day, David came home from picking up Finn from karate and found Emma curled up into her mother's side, practically clinging to her. Both girls were asleep, tissues around them. He smiled a bit, knowing that they had worked things out. Deep down, he knew that everything would be okay, they just had to give it time.

They busied themselves over the next few months to keep their minds off it. Emma and Charlie helped develop the nursery while Neal read practically every book on the subject. Finn helped in his own way, drawing pictures for his mom and going to talk to her every day when he got home from school when went on bed rest during the 5th month mark. Throughout it all, the kids were determined that they'd be getting two baby brothers.

Mary Margaret's pregnancy was going well and for a bit, they really thought that maybe things would go according to plan.

Then when she was exactly 28 weeks, she woke up to bleeding. David rushed her to the hospital and within two hours, she was being wheeled off to surgery. The babies were doing fine, but to keep them that way, they had to be delivered right away. David may have been terrified with every other birth, but this scared him even more.

The kids had already gone off to school when it happened and they knew something was wrong when their aunt Regina pulled up to take them home. She told them that their mother was fine, she was healing just fine.

"And the babies?" Emma asked.

Regina bit her lip. "Your sisters are stable, in the NICU."

Charlie didn't even seem to be phased that he had been wrong all that time. "Can we see them?"

"Not right now, soon, though."

"Are they going to be okay?"

"Yes, it's just going to be a long road."

David spent the next few days split between making sure that Mary Margaret was okay and checking on the kids. They all wanted to visit their mom, but the doctors felt that she needed to rest some more. He didn't feel like he could breathe, until on the day that Mary Margaret was to be released, they felt that the babies were stable enough to be held and have more visitors.

Mary Margaret didn't even mind the pain as her older kids gave her big hugs, holding onto Emma's hand even when she pulled away. They headed down to the NICU, where she had been able to see her babies as much as she wanted. Emma, Neal, Charlie and Finn stood back in awe, watching as their parents got to hold the twins for the first time.

"They're perfect," Mary Margaret whispered. "Just like the rest of you."

"They're so tiny," Finn said, crowding next to David. "Was I this tiny?"

He chuckled. "No. Emma was pretty close, though. They were two pounds, Emma was four."

"Seems like it's our girls that are stubborn and come early," Neal teased, nudging his big sister in the ribs.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Do you guys have names for them?"

"We do. We always like our names to mean something." Mary Margaret smiled up at all of her children. "I chose Genevieve, because she was the patron saint that protected Paris."

"And I picked Hannah," David said. "I really liked the name Grace, but we already know someone with that name, so I picked a name that means that."

"Genevieve and Hannah," Emma said with a grin. "Pretty."

"Nothing too stuffy like Charles," Charlie quipped with a smirk.

Mary Margaret giggled, shaking her head. "The middle names mean something too. Genevieve's is Rose, which was my mother's middle name. We would've gone with Eva, but that was just too close to Emma."

"And Hannah's is Rachel, which means female sheep."

"You named my baby sister after a sheep?" Charlie asked

"We breed them on our farm, they've always been a big part of our lives."

He rolled his eyes. "It's so weird, but oddly very our family."

Genevieve Rose and Hannah Rachel Nolan were able to come home one month later, surpassing what anyone else thought. Their lives were suddenly ten times more hectic, between the newborns, chauffeuring their other kids around to school and extracurriculars. They all took it in stride, though. It was a new challenge, one they wouldn't change for the world. They thought they had felt whole after Finn, but now their hearts were completely and totally full.

(Which was why shortly after the twins' first birthday, Mary Margaret got her tubes tied…but that's another story for another day.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Prompted by loboselinaistrash: Please can I have "If you even THINK about touching him/her/them, I'll kill you." With daddy charming and 'grandpa' George**

**Takes place when Emma is little.**

Emma was constantly fast on her feet, running around like crazy. She had taken her time to walk, but once she did, David and Mary Margaret had to baby proof the house. The toddler got into things they never expected and it was clear, she was a lot like her father: destined to be a little trouble maker.

Which is why normally they were careful when they took her out, she stayed in the stroller or in one of their arms. One particular day, however, she was being extra fussy and David knew he had to pick his battles. They had a lot of errands to run that day and if he was going to get back by her naptime, he needed to hurry up. So, when she didn't want to sit in the front of the cart in the grocery store, he allowed her to walk beside him. She was pushing her own tiny cart down the aisles, grabbing things when David told her to.

When they got to the cereal aisle, he got distracted as he tried to figure out what kind that Mary Margaret liked. Her tastes had changed since she got pregnant again. When he finally remembered and tossed the Cornflakes in the cart, he went to talk to his daughter.

"Okay Miss Emma, we just need to get some cookies and then we can…" He trailed off when he found her tiny cart abandoned, Emma nowhere in sight. "Emma?" He dashed to the end of the aisle. "Emma!"

His heart pounded in his chest. As a former cop, his mind went to the worst case scenario. She had been kidnapped, she had wandered out into the street. Either way, there was a chance that he wasn't going to see his baby girl again.

"Daddy!"

David felt his heart still, he had never been more happy to hear that word ever in his life. Turning around, he saw his little girl in someone's arms and a smile went across his face.

"There you are, you knuckled head." He walked closer to her. "You can't run off like that, Daddy was so scared." He took her from the person and went to look at them. "Thank you for finding her…" He trailed off and his blood ran ice cold.

George stood in front of him, a smirk across his face. David tightened his grip on Emma, kissing the top of her head. He had worked his ass off to make sure that George would have nothing to do with his family. They avoided the spots that he went to, which was easy considering he mostly mixed with Leopold's crowd. He wasn't stupid, he knew that George knew about Emma and his marriage to Mary Margaret. Even so, they had managed to stay a good amount of distance from one another.

"Can't keep track of your flock, can you, Davey?"

David was speechless, for the first time in a while. Before he could do anything more, Ruby appeared by his side. Where had she come from?

"David, I can take Emma if you want? Get her a cookie?"

He didn't want to let go of her, but also didn't want her around George longer than she had to be. "Okay." He gave Emma a final kiss. "Be good for Auntie Ruby, okay?"

"Kay, kay." Emma held her arms out to her godmother, who took her. "Cookie time, Auntie Wooby."

"One big chocolate chip one coming right up," she agreed, walking off, but not before glaring at George.

"Why did you have my daughter?" David asked, his voice low and it even scared himself a bit.

"I found her standing by herself." George shrugged. "You were too busy, almost as if you didn't care."

"Do not touch my child," David growled, stepping closer. "You know what? If you even think about touching her, I'll kill you."

"Testy, testy."

"You tried to kidnap my child!"

"I was simply getting to know my granddaughter. Did my invitation to her christening just get lost in the mail? Perhaps to her last two birthday parties?"

"You are not her grandfather. Her grandfather died long before you were in the picture."

"I clothed you, David. I gave you a roof over your head, made sure that you would have the best that life had to offer."

"And you made sure I paid the price for it, James to."

"James screwed over his own life."

"Mother never would've let him go down the path you did. You didn't care about either of us, you just wanted control."

"How long do you think you can keep up this happy little marriage?" George asked condescendingly. "You couldn't make the first work out, what makes you think you will this time?"

"I don't need to defend my marriage to you. Stay away from my daughter or you will regret it."

David grabbed his cart and pushed it to the bakery, where Emma was sitting on her godmother's lap, enjoying a cookie. He picked her up and cuddled her close, cradling the back of her head as he typically did. It started when she was a baby and even though she was 2, he still didn't see it stopping. Ruby stood up, rubbing his upper arm.

"Are you okay?"

"I didn't think he could ever get to her. I was so stupid to look away…"

"Hey, we all do that. This isn't your fault, it's his."

David sighed, looking down at his daughter. She was so innocent, oblivious to everything that was going on as she nibbled on her cookie. She held up a piece to him and he allowed her to feed it to him. "Thanks, Princess," he whispered.

"Welcome," Emma said with a yawn.

"I should get her home, it's almost naptime. Thanks for all your help, Rubes."

"No problem." She saw the panic still on his face. "She's okay."

He nodded and gave her a quick one-armed hug before heading to the checkout line. The rest of the day was spent with David trying to keep a brave face for Emma, who had no clue about what had just happened. Finally, around 3:30, the door opened and Mary Margaret walked inside.

"Mommy!" Emma squealed, running towards her.

Mary Margaret grinned and swept her up into her arms. "There's my sweet girl," she planted a kiss to her cheek. "How was your day?"

"Good."

She saw David lingering in the doorway, a pained look on his face. "Hey, Em, I got some new stickers." She reached into her bag and pulled them out. "Remember, only on paper. Not on the walls or Wilby."

Emma giggled, but nodded in agreement and let Mary Margaret put her down. David lead his wife into the kitchen and explained what happened at the store. She rubbed his back and assured him it wasn't his fault, but she could tell something was still bothering him.

"George lives in Storybrooke, so does your dad."

"Yeah."

"I just…I don't know if we should stay here."

Mary Margaret tilted her head. "We have a whole life here. I have a job, you've been working on the farm."

"There are teaching jobs everywhere, we could sell the house and get a farm somewhere else. Maybe in Connecticut."

"You want to run?"

"I just don't want to keep looking over my shoulders, scared that George will hurt my kids the way he did me."

"Oh David." She put her hand on top of his. "My dad can't hurt them, neither can George."

"He almost took Emma today."

"But he didn't. If we run, he wins. We have our lives here, we're happy. This is the first we've heard from George in two years. This is what he wanted, babe, to get in your head and to scare you. Don't let him."

David sighed, knowing that she was right. He had just never been so terrified. Mary Margaret wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her forehead against his.

"Our babies are safe. Don't let him get in your head. He can't hurt this family, he can't hurt you."

He looked deep into her eyes, slowly calming down. His plan to leave town was crazy and over the top, he knew that now. He was grateful to have her in his life, she was the light in all of the craziness.

"Daddy! Mommy! Need help with 'tickers!" Emma yelled from the living room.

David chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "Looks like our baby girl needs our help."

"Let's go.'

He caressed her swollen bump. "How's our little guy doing, by the way?"

"Not so little. I had my appointment this morning, he's weighing in at 5 pounds already. Emma was only 3 by this stage."

"I guess I should start calling him our big guy."

Mary Margaret grinned. "I'd think so."


	3. Chapter 3

**loboselinaistrash prompted: Prompt- Mary Margaret and David are searching for a preschool for Emma and have rather conflicting ideas (inspired by Jane the virgin so either them happily married or them doing this while cursed!) thank you love!**

Education was very important to Mary Margaret, of course it was. She was a teacher and wanted only the best for her children. She knew that David taught Emma and Neal lots of stuff while they were at home with him, but it was time for Emma to start going to pre-school and interacting with other children. David had agreed, especially since they had another baby on the way. It'd be nice to have a tiny break from all three children while Emma was at school.

So, dropping Neal off with Granny, the two brought Emma to the first candidate. It was Mary Margaret's choice: education focused. A lot of the kids went to kindergarten already knowing how to read and all of their numbers.

"This place is boring," David mumbled as he stood in the back of the room.

Mary Margaret gave him a look. "It's educational," she whispered.

"It's like she's already in elementary school. Isn't pre-school supposed to be fun? Plus, look, Emma's not even paying attention."

Mary Margaret looked to find Emma not listening to the story. Instead, she was trying to talk to the child sitting beside her. When the teacher would redirect her, she'd look back.

"Well, she'll adjust. She's used to playing a lot at home with her brother, maybe this'll be good kindergarten readiness."

"Maybe. We still have a few more places to look at."

The second school was definitely more play based. They taught the children stuff, but they got a lot more exposure to playing. Emma was having a blast there, running around and finding things to do with the other kids. David triumphantly folded his arms over his chest.

"This is the perfect place for her."

Mary Margaret frowned. "They just play most of the day. How are they supposed to get ready for kindergarten?"

"They learn stuff too, just in their own way."

"The other school exposed her more to it."

"And she couldn't even pay attention long enough."

"She's 3, she'll adjust."

"She's Emma." David tilted his head. "You know she has trouble sitting down for long periods of time. We're still getting her evaluated and I just don't think sitting for long periods of time is going to be best for her."

"It could be what helps her. Maybe this'll help with her ADHD. Give her space to calm down and relax. Here, she'll just be overly hyper all the time."

David sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"So, we both clearly have different ideas."

Mary Margaret nodded, biting her lip. "I mean, we both only want what's best for her."

"Of course we do."

"Maybe…we shouldn't go with either of these pre-schools, though. If neither of us are feeling them, then they're not the right fit."

"Clearly not."

They left the pre-school and started driving to Granny's. Mary Margaret glanced in the backseat at Emma, who was starting to drift off to sleep. Clearly, she had a lot of fun at the pre-school. She had really seemed to have a lot of fun. She reached into her purse and pulled out the packet, looking through it.

"I thought you said you didn't like the school," David said.

"Emma just seemed to have a lot of fun." She flipped forward a few pages. "They do have a program for kids with ADHD, focused on helping them learn more."

"I know, that's why I suggested the school in the first place."

"And kids do learn things, just in different ways. They seem to do a lot more arts and crafts, which we know that Emma loves."

David grinned. "So, you're coming around to it?"

"I guess I've just been used to teaching kids in my own way. I forgot that all kids learn differently and Emma…she's different. It's partially what makes her so special."

"You know it's nothing you've done, right?"

Mary Margaret bit her lip. "I've been working so much and I teach kids all day, but my own daughter…"

"Loves you. She thinks her mommy is the best. She constantly talks about how great of a teacher you are. You just said that every child needs to learn differently, this is what's going to help Emma. It doesn't make you a bad teacher or a bad mother."

"Are you sure?"

"Considering you're the best mother if the world, definitely not."

She rolled her eyes. "You're too sweet for your own good."

"The reason why you love me."

That fall, Emma would start at her new pre-school. It turned out to be the best thing for her. She got to run around and play to her heart's content, while the teachers also helped her learn. She started thriving and learning much more than she had before. Mary Margaret was happy to see her daughter so happy. It wouldn't be the last argument they'd have after Emma's schooling, but college was another 14 ½ years off.


End file.
